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Moravian Theatre Olomouc

Josef Kornhäusel

alias Czech Theatre in Olomouc (1922- 1944), State Theatre of Oldřich Stibor (1963 - 1991), Regional Theatre (1949-1958), Town Theatre (1830-1922), Town Theatre in Olomouc (1945- 1948), Oldřich Stibor Theatre (1958-1963)
history of the theatresupplementtechnical dataHistoric equipment

Important events

(detail)19. 5. 1828 | Commencement date of building a theatre

After the decision about building new theatre was taken in 1815 , thanks to the disputes between the representatives of the administration, the original building was demolished in 1827. The construction of the design of new theatre by Josef Kornhäusel was commenced on 19.5.1828.


(detail)3. 10. 1830 | Inauguration
Ceremonial opening of the new theatre.
(detail)80. 's 19. century | Installation of seats

(detail)1890 | Adjustment of the theater
Instalation of electrical lighting was followed additional changes in front facade decoration.
(detail)1925 | Reconstruction of the stage
The stage was under reconstruction between 1924-1925 according the design by Hermann Helmer from Vienna.
(detail)1929 | Reconstruction and an extension of the back part
Reconstruction and an extension of the back part was carried out between 1927 - 1929 according to design by Josef Macháček. Sculptures were made by Julius Pelikán.
(detail)1941 | Reconstruction of the frontage and the front part
The reconstruction between 1940 and 1941 was made according the design by Karl Fischer . The sculptures were manufactured by Karl Fischer and Ferdinand Kuschel.
(detail)1962 | Extension of the stage
Between 1960 - 1962 the extension of the stage was carried out according the design by Zdeněk Hynek.
(detail)1965 | Reconstruction of the hall Reduta
Reconstruction of the hall Reduta was carried out between 1963-1965, at that time called hall of Julius Fučík, according the design by Stanislav Režný.
(detail)1976 | Reconstruction of the stage and the auditorium
Reconstruction of the stage and the auditorium was carried out between 1972 - 1976 according the design by Petr Kutnar, Leopold Vydra and Svatopluk Zeman.
(detail)2004 | A project of the reconstruction and extension of the foul territory
A project of the reconstruction and extension of the foul territory made by Petr Leinert.
(detail)2006 | Realization of the reconstruction and the extension - building D
The reconstruction and the extension of the building D was realized between 2005-2006.
(detail)2007 | Realization of the reconstruction and the extension - building C
The reconstruction and the extension of the building C was realized between 2006-2007 .

People

(detail)Josef Kornhäusel |main architect

Author of design for construction of Moravian Theatre Olomouc in 1828-1830.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Kornh%C3%A4usel

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(detail)Hermann Helmer Jr. |architect

Architect, a younger son of architect Hermann Helmer Sr., a co-owner of Viennese architectural atelier Fellner & Helmer, specialized on theatre buildings construction throughout Europe and overseas (South America). After studies in Viennese Technical University, he worked in the atelier of his father.

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(detail)Josef Macharáček |architect

Author of design for rear wing annexe of Moravian Theatre Olomouc, carried out in 1927-1929. Czech architect, who also worked in Netherlands and Germany.

Source:


(detail)Karl Fischer |architect

Author of design for front facade, front wing and auditorium reconstruction in 1940-1941 of Moravian Theatre Olomouc. Belongs among leading German project architects in Olomouc county. His work is characterized by the style close to German  New Objectivity (Neue Sachlichkeit), influenced by romanticized tendention. In this spirit is realized most of his work , primarily residential building.

Source:


(detail)Stanislav Režný |architect

Architect and builder , his works are mainly realized in Prague, mostly  residential buildings. Author of design for Reduta hall reconstruction in Moravian Theatre Olomouc.


(detail)Zdeněk Hynek |architect

Is mainly concentrated work to preserve historical sights , especially around city Olomouc. Author of design for annex side stage construction in Moravian Theatre Olomouc.


(detail)Petr Kutnar |architect

Author of entrance part and auditorium reconstruction in Moravian Theatre Olomouc in 1972-1976.

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(detail)Leopold Vydra |architect
Author of entrance part and auditorium reconstruction in Moravian Theatre Olomouc in 1972-1976.

(detail)Svatopluk Zeman |architect
Author of entrance part and auditorium reconstruction in Moravian Theatre Olomouc in 1972-1976.More theatres

(detail)Petr Leinert |architect

Author of design for reconstruction and annex construction of Moravian Theatre Olomouc rear wing –Blocks C and D.


(detail)Julius Pelikán |sculptor

Author of portrait embossed medallion in rear wing facade of Moravian Theatre Olomouc (Alois Jirásek, Eduard Vojan, Hana Kvapilová, Leoš Janáček). Student of Josef Václav Myslbek and Jan Štursa. Among the other work he became well known as a author of dozens of monuments and sculptural decoration on the buildings. Most of his work is available to be seen in Olomouc.

Source:


(detail)Vojtěch Hořínek |sculptor

The author of ceramic relief Drama and Music in the gable of front elevation of the Moravian Theatre Olomouc.


(detail)Zbyněk Runczik |sculptor
Author of main chandelier in Moravian Theatre Olomouc auditorium.

(detail)Eva Bočková |sculptor
Author of main chandelier in Moravian Theatre Olomouc auditorium.

History

A theatre has existed in Olomouc, the former capital of Moravia, from the year 1770. It was originally located in a building on the Lower Square in the first floor above the city slaughterhouse. The theatre had a capacity for 650 people and was established at a cost to the city of 10,000 florins. The theatre had a parterre and two rows of loges with the honorary loge in the middle of the first row. Wooden steps led to the second row and the galleries with a floor made from only slates. The stage faced out on the so-called Coal Market and lacked a ceiling, instead only containing a roof. The theatre was accessible via an external double-flight of stairs from the Lower Square. The structure was lacking in various areas with a number of insufficiencies, draughty, the smell from the slaughterhouse, poor light conditions, etc. It was consequently quickly criticised. In 1788 Johann Alexis Eckberger wrote the following regarding the theatre, “The theatre in Olomouc is a poor building where the muses have been installed only out of necessity. Greasy benches breeding insects and spreading stench are located under the theatre. The entrance into the theatre is from the Lower Square and is entered along two wooden stairways at a risk to one’s life. Further stairs lead to the loges and galleries. The entire structure is held together with wood, with a high risk of fire and could endanger the audience if there is a large crowd.” The state of the theatre was so poor that productions were called off over the years 1809-1810 and considerations as to demolishing the structure were considered. Despite these problems the theatre scene continued with the above-mentioned breaks up until 1830.

    In May 1797 negotiations began concerning a new theatre building. An offer by the builder Johann Freywald for building a theatre in exchange for rent for 15 years was not accepted, however, by the city. An appropriate structure for either reconstruction or a new building was sought for over a longer period. Finally the city decided for a building on the Upper Square, land plot number 432. This proposal was approved by the city council on the 31st of January 1815. The building of the so-called Blue or Commander’s House had been assigned to the city military commander as a permanent residence as of the year 1655. Only , however, from the year 1673 is there evidence that the commanders actually began to stay there. At the beginning of the 19th century the building was in an extreme state of disrepair and as of the year 1811 had not been employed any longer for accommodating military officers. It was partially demolished in the year 1816 on the basis of a decision by the city council. The preparations, however, for the construction of a new theatre were slowed due to financial and administrative reasons. The regional government in Brno also caused difficulties which could be explained by their wish to prevent their competitor Olomouc from having an independent theatre building. Only after a protest on the part of the chemist Johann Schrötter to the Olomouc Archbishop Archduke Rudolf Jan followed by the clergyman’s audience at the royal court did the situation begin to change. At the beginning of December 1827 the remains of the Commander’s House on the Upper Square were definitively removed. The construction work was begun on the 19th of May 1828 according to a project by the Viennese court architect Josef Kornhäusel. It was actually carried out by clerks from the city construction office Franz Brunner and Karl Biefer. The ceremonial opening of the theatre took place on the 3rd of October 1830 in honour of Emperor Francis I. The overall amount for the construction of the new theatre, including the demolishing of the Commander’s House, came according to the relevant literature to an amount of 71,656 (sometimes even listed at almost 76.000 florins).

     The theatre consequently ranked among the most impressive buildings of its kind at the time. Kornhäusel placed the theatre into a deep parcel of land amongst the terraced front of the Upper Square. The theatre opens up on the square with a wide seven window scheme façade with a central entrance and a side alley leading to the rear parts of the building. The architect crowned the main symmetrical theatre façade with a huge triangular gable on a flat bay with a decorative relief on a tympanum with the central motif of a lyre on sculpturally depicted bases. The theatre also includes the Reduta concert hall on the first floor in the front tract of a length of approximately 74 feet, a width of 88 feet and a height of 57 feet. It was opened to the public on the 9th of January 1831. The entrance to the Reduta concert hall, as well as the theatre, is located in the main front from the Upper Square. The exit from the theatre was originally into the side alley, today known as Divadelní (Theatre) street, leading from the square to the still existing city walls and to today’s Mlýnská street (at that time Wassergasse).

    The theatre was entered from the square through a segmented entrance covered by a marquise. This was followed by a long corridor with the dining area, a flat and a snack bar along the sides. The corridor culminated in a small vestibule with a two flight staircase leading to the upper floors and the particular rows of loges as well as the galleries. Kornhäusel equipped the theatre with a horseshoe-shaped auditorium with four rows of loges and galleries, accessible from the side corridors along the circumference of the auditorium. The capacity at that time amounted to approximately 900 to 1000 people with the parterre and galleries containing only standing room. The stage was 38 feet in width in the front part with an identical depth. The machine equipment was the work of J. Leining from Vienna. The ceremonial appearance of the space was enhanced by the décor in the spirit of late Classicism, partially carried out in the form of paint work according to Kornhäusel’s designs. The stage portal was designed by Kornhäusel as a sculpturally conceived arch with the coat-of-arms eagle from the symbol of the city at the top. The parapet loges as well as the ceiling were decorated with Empire style painted décor with the grey-blue colour scheme serving to emphasise the harmony of the space. The painting of the interior as well as the exterior stage were carried out by the Viennese painter Mathias Josef Gail (1775?-1830), with Michael Mayr (1796-1870) and Josef Scharhan taking over the work and painting of the décor after his death. A storage area for the props was added on in the year 1833 with air heating provided for the theatre as well as the concert hall over the years 1838-1839. New decorations, drapery  and mirror windows were also equipped in the theatre in the year 1841.

      The architect Josef Kornhäusel (1782-1860) attended school at the end of the 18th century although it is not known if he completed his academic studies. Kornhäusel was strongly influenced by co-operation with the Viennese architect Josef Hardtmuth who Kornhäusel replaced after his retirement in the year 1812 in the function of construction director on the estate of Johann von Liechtenstein II . He consequently completed Hardtmuth’s design of a building on the grounds of the Lednice-Valtice estate. His independent works include, for example, the gate for the Liechtenstein Palace in Vienna (1814) and the Rybniční zámek (Pond House) (1814-1816) on the Lednice-Valtice grounds as well as the Temple to Apollo (1817-1819). He also realised several structures, excellent examples of late Classicism, in the second decade of the 19th century, in particular in Baden or in the case of the nearby château of Weilburg (1820-1823) for Archduke Karl. He was initially interested in monumental Classicism as well as Empire phraseology only to later move toward architecture corresponding more toward the burgher Biedermeier style. In the cases of theatres he was inspired by the building of Theatre an der Wien by F. Jäger working in Olomouc along the lines of his own theatre projects such as for example the new theatre structure in Baden (1811-1812), in the Viennese suburb of Hietzing (1816) and first and foremost in the theatre in the Viennese suburb of Josefstadt from the year 1822.

As Pavel Zatloukal states: “From an original ideal of  ‘a mature and balanced calm’ of classical inspiration which was primarily focused on the application of grand columned orders, artists consequently moved in greater fashion to a Cubic style simplicity, or in other words from the Imperial Empire style to the burgher Biedermeier.” On the basis of these characteristics, he views the Olomouc theatre as a turning point between Classicism and an architectural movement expressing the ideals of a burgher society.

     Several adaptations to the theatre building took place in the second half of the 19th century. Seats were installed decreasing the capacity of the hall at the beginning of the 1880s in the parterre of the auditorium. Electric lighting was introduced over the years 1888-1890 while the ground floor of the building facing the square was transformed into sales areas. The exterior appearance also underwent changes. Four circular stucco medallions were placed between the windows of the second floor of the main façade with depictions of renowned German dramatists and musicians (Friedrich Schiller, Johann Wolfgang Goethe, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Richard Wagner) and the entire front equipped with new paint décor. These adaptations were connected with the growing German nationalist movement. Starting in the year 1885 the Olomouc city council actually even completely forbid the organising of Czech theatre performances in the City Theatre which had been earlier anticipated over the course of the 1870s by gradual limiting of the Czech repertoire. The Czech theatre company consequently made use of the hall of the Civic Association in the historical core of Olomouc for theatre purposes. The above-mentioned situation finally led to the construction of the Czech National House which was opened near the Church of St. Moritz in the year 1888. Czech theatre was not able to make use of the City Theatre again until the second half of the 1890s when a performance of Smetana’s opera The Bartered Bride took place, this only being on the basis of its previous success in Vienna.

     The situation in the Czechoslovak state radically changed after the year 1918. A new city council with a Czech majority rented the building to the Association for Czech Theatre from the 1st of May 1920. German performances could initially be staged four months of the year, consequently each Monday, certain Fridays and in June. Adaptations to the building were immediately begun, at first  impacting the external appearance. The main façade was altered with the four circular medallions with portraits of German artists moved to the parapets of the windows of the second floor and decorated with festoons.  Pilasters were placed between the windows on this floor on the level of the springers of the windows equipped with corbels.  Busts of Czech dramatists and musicians were consequently placed there: Josef Kajetán Tyl, Jaroslav Vrchlický, Bedřich Smetana and Antonín Dvořák.

    Repairs and reconstruction work to the interior of the theatre building also began. A design for reconstruction, along with an annex to the theatre, was in all probability created and the in July of 1924 the plans were signed and officially stamped by the builders Bohumil Vodička, Josef Jiránek, Jan Valihrach, Bernard Sychrava and Julius Schmalz. As Pavel Zatloukal has pointed out,  the project was prepared by an employee of the city building authority Josef Macharáček (1880-1943) with previous experience from his work stays in Germany and Holland. As additional planning documentation demonstrates, a more detailed project for the reconstruction of the stage was created in the middle of June 1925 in the Viennese offices of the architect Hermann Helmer Jr. (1878-?). Building permission for the entire project was issued on the 13th of July 1925. The theatre obtained permission to make use of the reconstructed stage and rear tract on the 25th of March 1927. Through the reconstruction, the theatre obtained a stage with dimensions of 13 x 11 metres, while the dimensions for the performance area were 12.2 x 10.5 metres. The stage was equipped with a turntable with a diameter of 9 metres, five trapdoor, 32 winches, a black framed backcloth and a circular white backcloth (the situation as of the year 1949). The reconstruction of the rear tract, recorded in a project as early as July 1924, provided the theatre with expanded facilities thereby improving the performing possibilities. On the negative side, the design represented a relatively conventional period design from the architectural perspective. This was necessary, however, due to the need to fit with the deep shape of the plot of land. 

     The façades of the new structure, facing out on Mlýnská street and consequently also on the circular road created according to the city planning design of  Camillo Sitte, is typical of the new Classicism attempting to identify with the architecture of the front and central tract by  Kornhäusel. The four-storey volume is articulated with a separated parterre with a cornice, followed by the main body of the structure held together by a high lesene frame. The top consists of the upper floor separated by a continuous parapet moulding and culminating in a mutule enhanced by the crowning cornice. Above this on the main façade is a parapet extension with a triangular gable, emphasised on its surface by a figural relief with the motif of a group of five putti.  The fly loft culminates in a corbie-step gable and a saddle roof. The majority of the annex area is covered with a saddle roof while the rear wing has a mansard roof covered with ceramic roofing. The simple and traditionally conceived façade with vertical wooden wings is enriched by portrait reliefs of famous figures from Czech theatre (Alois Jirásek, Eduard Vojan, Hana Kvapilová, Leoš Janáček) on the parapets of the windows of the second floor of the main façade facing out on Mlýnská street and a central plate depicting a pair of children holding a laurel wreath. The reliefs were carried out by a disciple of Karel V. Myslbek, the Olomouc sculptor Julius Pelikán (1887-1969).

     Reconstruction work during the between-the-wars period only impacted the central and rear tract of the theatre with the front tract undergoing renewal and architectural adaptations over the years 1940-1941 according to a design by the Olomouc architect Karl Fischer (1901-1948). Fischer inclined towards a Historicising concept arising out of the architecture of the German Heimatstril, popular with the Nazi regime. He attempted to come to terms with the original Classicist character of the theatre building by creating an identical expression. He worked at making the entrance area ceremonial while additionally enlarging it in order to meet the new requirements for grandiosity. He unified the façades in terms of style removing both the Czech theatre busts and the German medallions thereby supplying the theatre with a simpler expression. He perforated the parterre with unified openings and clad the articulated bossage with stone casing.  Parts of the stucco décor of the main façade were replaced by stone elements, in particular the cornices. He also replaced the relief of the lyre in the gable with a similar relief, here arising from an allegory of Tragedy and Comedy in the form of theatre masks created by the Olomouc sculptor Vojtěch Hořínek (1906-1998). A stone statue of a female eagle taken from the coat-of-arms of the city of Olomouc was situated above the main entrance and created by the sculptor Ferdinand Kuschel (1899-?) from nearby Šternberk. Fischer's work, in the final result, exhibits a certain academic abstractness, apparent in the transformation of the soft artistic elements and details into stern parts of the consequent remade composition, more or less arising out of the work of Kornhäusel.

     After carrying out repairs arising during the war, more significant construction steps were not carried out until the years 1960-1962 when a project, in a state of preparation from the second half of the 1950s, was finally begun for the addition of a side operational stage installed to the   southern side of the main stage parts according to a design by the Olomouc architect Zdeněk  Hynek (1922-2006). Reconstruction of the Reduta concert hall was carried out over the years 1963-1965 according to a project by the architect Stanislav Režný (1907-?). The reconstruction of the stage and auditorium over a period of time over the years 1972-1976 consequently followed up on the earlier work. The interior architectural design was created by the architects Petr Kutnar (1940) Leopold Vydra (1938) and Svatopluk Zeman (1940). At that time the audience areas of the building were significantly adapted including the auditorium with the seating, reconstruction of the stucco décor and the installation of new technical equipment. The anterooms were additionally effected, in particular the vestibule with a spread out space in front of the main dressing rooms. The upper foyer, for example, was articulated by art work, of which the grate by the sculptor Eva Kmentová (1928-1980) was removed during recent adaptations. The theatre building was declared a cultural monument on the 21st of December 1987 by decision of the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Socialist Republic and is listed on the Central List of Cultural Monuments under registration number 13617/8-3614.

     Several further adaptations were carried out after the year 1989. First and foremost,  the main façade was once again adapted according to a project from the end of the year 1991 by the architect J. Ševčík. The older design of the main entrance was removed and newly equipped with a segmented marquise in accordance with the original appearance. The stone eagle was additionally removed from the supraporte. The wooden windows from the wartime reconstruction were later replaced by inappropriate plastic panes which degrade the façades as well as the overall appearance of the south-west fronts on the Upper Square. More significantly, general reconstruction of the side stage took place over the years 2005-2006 with the introduction of an extension covered by a hood from copper plate. The overall reconstruction of the rear tract of the theatre, dating from the 1920s, also had to be carried out over the years 2006-2007 as a result of significant statics damage. Only the perimeter walls remained in preserved form while the inner layout was demolished and completely recreated. Originally this part of the theatre (building C) was laid out around a narrow rectangular courtyard with the windows of the dressing rooms as well as other operational rooms facing out on it. The corridors were located on the exterior sides of both longitudinal wings demarcating the above-mentioned courtyard. The courtyard was transformed into a central elongated hall with communication corridors circling around it on the particular floors leading to the individual rooms (dressing rooms, dressmakers, ironing, storage areas, etc.).

 

Name

     The theatre initially had the name Stadttheatre / City Theatre including the period between the wars when it was divided into Czech and German theatrical groups. During the period of the Nazi protectorate the German section gained increased influence and the Czech group had to repair the theatre in Hodolany according to a design by Lubomír Šlapeta. The German group consequently played under the name Deutsches Theatre der Hauptstadt Olmütz. After the war the name City Theatre was employed once again up until the year 1949. From that year the theatre once again changed the name of the entire institution to Krajské oblastní theatre (Regional Theatre) within the framework of the new arrangement of the local regional national committee. It acquired the new name Oldřich Stibor Theatre in the year 1958 only to be changed once again in the year 1975 to the form Oldřich Stibor State Theatre. The theatre was returned to the administration of the city in the year 1991 and once again accepted a new name Moravské divadlo Olomouc (Moravian Theatre Olomouc) which is employed up until today.

 

Contemporary situation

       The theatre is located in a row of terraced structures at the south-west front of the Upper Square in the middle of the historical core of Olomouc. It is divided up into four parts, part A consisting of the front tract with the Reduta concert hall, part B with the space of the auditorium and the stage, part C being the rear addition of the theatre backstage areas from the 1920s and part D being the addition of the side stage from the southern side.

    The theatre building opens out on the square with a wide seven-window schemed, symmetrically composed façade with a central five window flat bay crowned over its entire length by a massive, triangular gable. The bay contains the oblong entrance to the theatre on the ground floor axis covered by a segmented marquise. Along the sides of the entrance are oblong display windows. There are five oblong vertical windows on separated parapet cornices on the first floor and vertical windows with cylindrical springers on a continuous parapet cornice and with a separated cornice on the level of the springers on the second floor. The side sections with a one-window scheme have barrel-vaulted entrances, the one on the southern side being the separate entrance to the Reduta concert hall and the other the barrel-vaulted passageway to Divadelní alley. Oblong vertical windows are situated on the first and second floors of the side sections with stone rosettes above the windows on the first floor and festoons with stone mascarons above the windows on the second floor. A simple frieze runs along the basic crown cornice. The original design of the décor of the triangular gable is recalled with a newer sculpted relief, expanded by a pair of theatre masks (Comedy and Tragedy) from the older look, as well as by ribbons, a laurel and crossed musical instruments all carried out by the sculptor V. Hořínek. The façade of the main front is partially plastered with a white coating with a hint of stone elements from limestone. The ground floor has wooden panelling for both the display windows and the doors while the first floor has inappropriate plastic window elements. 

Two-leafed wooden doors at the main entrance articulated with panelling lead into the entrance area lined by side rooms. Glass two-winged doors with sandblasting according to a design by P. Kutnar and executed by the glass artist brothers Kepka are situated between the entrance area and the vestibule. The vestibule was equipped with a decorative golden ceiling from tombac plate designed and executed by the sculptor Zbyněk Runczik (1941) with a motif from part of the score of Janáček’s Sinfonietta. The flooring, supporting pillars and stairs dividing the vestibule from the entrance to the parterre of the auditorium and from the staircase to the upper floors, are lined with white stone plating. The vestibule is distinguished by a cream colour scheme in the stone in combination with the golden colour of the ceiling. Its present appearance with various advertisements and exhibition panels, however, fails to meet the standards for the ceremonial look and distinction of the space. A snack bar is located at the front of the foyer.

     The traditional 'opera glass' space of the auditorium is composed of a parterre with loges and two rows in the upper floors. There are two balconies opposite the stage with galleries above them. The overall capacity of the hall is 455 seats, 10 of which are located in the loges for two people (5), 88 places in the loges for four people (making 22). The chest-high loges and galleries are decorated with ornamentally executed gilded frames on a white background. The ceiling is decorated with three grouped stucco circles around a central chandelier from the 1970s according to a design by Zbyněk Runczik and the jewellery artist and sculptor Eva Bočková (1946). The chandelier is made up of threaded glass beads on an asymmetrically executed robust metal body. 

     The portal stage is 8.5 metres wide and 6 metres high, while the fore-stage is 4 metres wide. The orchestra pit is below of a width of  14 metres, a depth of 4 metres and a capacity for a maximum of 45 musicians. The stage at present has a width of 12 metres and the same depth. It is equipped with a 20 metre high fly loft with a black drop-cloth. The stage is separated from the auditorium by a metal fire curtain and netting. The technical equipment consists of one small trap door in the front part and a large one in the rear along with 25 hand winches. The lighting cabin is equipped with an ETX Expression lighting console while the program sound from the stage and communication system are of Philips make. The lighting equipment for the stage is provided by a catwalk, while the portal has 22 reflectors, the flies have 14 reflectors followed by a horizontal lighting bar. The auditorium also had light sources on the levels of the first and second balconies and galleries. The added side stage is connected to the main stage from the southern side with a walkway on the level of the higher floors employed partially as a storage area for scenery. 

     After the recent reconstruction work and additions the rear tract develops around a central oblong hall covered with a glazed roof. Corridors run off the circumference of the hall on the various floors leading to the operational rooms, offices, dressing rooms, etc. Connecting bridges with glazed floors are situated between the particular sections of the building divided up by the hall. The walls of the hall are treated with a schematically conceived gravel surface coated with green paint. The vertical of the lift with a metal frame construction is situated in the eastern part of the hall while to the south of the lift is a reinforced concrete double flight of stairs originally from the reconstruction work to the theatre in the 1920s. An additional connecting stairway is located in the western part of the rear tract. The doors are coated with wood veneer while the floors of the corridors, hall and stairways are clad in a unified red floor covering, despite the fact the a variety of colours would have been more suitable for orientation within the building, particularly for example on the floors. 

     An extension is located above the side stage. This part of the theatre is referred to as block D. The rear tract is known as building or block C and has a completely new layout. Workshops and a dressing room and first and foremost the side stage reaching into the second floor are located in these tracts on the first floor. The ballet hall, choir hall and orchestra practice room are located on the third floor. Archive storage and costume storage are situated in the basement of building C. The music and maintenance rooms are on the ground floor while the dressing rooms for the opera and theatre soloists, the director's office and the art operations are on the second floor. The third floor houses the archive, the economic department, dressing rooms for the choir and the wigmaker's shop. The entrances to the fly loft and the walkways on the side stage are located in block D. The fourth floor contains the dramatic art director's office and the opera director's office, the art department, the ballet dressing rooms, 2 rehearsal rooms, and the entrance to the fly loft. The fifth floor contains a rehearsal room, a cloak room, workshops, ironing shop, wash room, storage areas and the office of the head of the costumes department. An additional half-storey with rooms for the male and female dressmakers is above this floor.

     The superstructure has a hooded copper plate on the outside. The hood is perforated in the shape of lamellas along the sides enabling lighting of the newly built rooms through covered windows. This above-mentioned hood both merges into and covers the superstructure of the rear tract (block C) from the southern side. The exterior character of the rear tract has remained to a great degree unchanged. The building's façade, in contrast to the appearance prior to the reconstruction (white colour, sandstone yellow), was given a green coating with the surfaces carried out with a lighter shade of green and the architectural elements in a darker shade.

 

 

Literature:

- d´Elvert, Christian: Geschichte des Theatres in Mähren und Oesterreichisch Slesisen. Das Olmützer Theatre; In: Schriften der historisch-statistischen Sektion der k. k. mähr. schles. Geselschaft des Ackerbaues, der Natur- und Landeskunde 1852, s. 138-150.

- Nešpor, Václav: Dějiny města Olomouce; Brno 1936, s. 217.

- Javorin, Alfred: theatre a divadelní sály v českých krajích I. theatre; Praha 1949, s. 147-151.

- Hlobil, Ivo – Michna, Pavel – Togner, Milan: Olomouc; Praha 1984, s. 134 a obr. 219.

- Zatloukal, Pavel: Architektura olomouckého theatre a její tvůrci; In: Státní theatre Oldřicha Stibora Olomouc 1920-1990. Almanach k sedmdesátému výročí vzniku českého theatre v Olomouci, Olomouc 1990, nestr.

- Hilmera, Jiří: Česká divadelní architektura; Praha 1999, s. 20-21 a obr. 16-17.

- Stýskal, Jiří: Stručný pohled do historie; In: Almanach – Moravské theatre Olomouc 1920-2000; Olomouc 2000, s. 9-15.

- Stýskal, Jiří: Milníky osmdesáti let; In: Almanach – Moravské theatre Olomouc 1920-2000; Olomouc 2000, s. 17-21.

- Bartoš, Josef at al.: Olomouc. Malé dějiny města; Olomouc 2002, s. 166.

- Zatloukal, Pavel: Příběhy z dlouhého století. Architektura  let 1750-1918 na Moravě a ve Slezsku; Olomouc 2002, s. 94 a 141-142.

- Nather, Wilhelm: Kronika olomouckých domů II; Olomouc 2007, s. 49-51.

 

Tags: Classicism, Austrian Empire, Biedermeier

 

Author: Strakoš Martin

Translator: David Livingstone

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